Grading shingle cutter guide device



Jan. 15, 1963 A. JONES 3,073,364

GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Filed Feb. 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. .7 kxJawas Jan. 15, 1963 A. JONES 3,073,364

GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Filed Feb. 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent Qftice 3,973,354 Patented Jan. 15, 193

3,073,364 GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Alex Jones, R0. Box 84,Keller, Tex. Filed Feb. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 86,942 Claims. (Cl. 144-216)This invention relates to a cutter for composition-type shingles andmore particularly to a device for cutting simultaneously a plurality ofshingles, properly graded in length, for bordering the juncture betweentwo roofing planes.

In cutting roofing shingles of the composition type for the juncturesbetween roofing planes to form valleys and hips, it is necessary to cutshingles on an angle and to locate the points of severance such that theshingle at the valley or hip will properly mate with the adjacentshingle in the same course and define a straight line along thejuncture. It is desirable to maintain alignment of the joints betweenshingles on alternate or other spaced courses in order to present a morepleasing appearance.

It has been the practice in the past to start a given course A ofshingles at one of the caves and work towards a hip or valley. When thejuncture is reached, each shingle is measured individually and cut toprovide the shingle which will border the juncture. Applicant has foundthat a substantial saving in time and an improvement in the appearanceof a roof can be achieved by utilization of a cutting device which willpermit the simultaneous cutting of a plurality of shingles in a mannerthat the shingles will be graded properly in length to terminate aplurality of courses at the juncture between two roofing planes.

More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, there isprovided a cutter for shingles for bordering the juncture between tworoofing planes which includes a planar support having a linear stopmounted on the support for alignment of horizontal shingle edges. Acutting guide is provided which extends across the support at the angleof the juncture between two roofing planes from a point of intersectionwith the linear stop. A grading member is mounted on the supportparallel to but spaced from the linear stop and is provided with aplurality of shingle margin arresting elements or stops. The shinglemargin stops are spaced uniformly along the member at distances equal tothe stepouts of the juncture across the exposure of each course, wherebyshingles in number equal to the number of arresting elements may beplaced on the support abutting the linear stop with one shingle edgeagainst each of the margin arresting elements. A out along the cuttingguide will provide juncture shingles for adjacent courses of shinglesproperly graded in length so that the vertical joints between theshingles may be properly aligned.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and forfurther objects and advantages thereof, reference may now be had to thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGUREI is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the unit of FIGURE 1 but with the cuttingguide in a different position;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the unit of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 illustrates a grading stop element for shingles of a firstsize;

FIGURE 5 illustrates a grading stop element for shingles of a secondsize;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 1, but withthe larger size grading stop;

FIGURE 7 illustrates a series of graded shingles (exposed portionsonly);

FIGURE 8 illustrates a roof pattern;

FIGURE 9 illustrates use of the cutter guide device for forming shingle73 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 illustrates the three cuts that may be required on a givenshingle.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated one embodiment of theinvention in which a planar support structure 10 is conveniently formedfrom a sheet of plywood or other suitable material. A pair of marginallinear Stops 11 and 12 extend along the lower edge of the support 10 onopposite sides thereof. As best illustrated in FIGURE 2, the edge 13 ofthe support 10 is at right angles With respect to the stops 11 and 12.The edge 14 is cut at a 45 angle relative to edge 13. While the support10 might also be made square or rectangular, the illustrated triangularform has been found convenient in use as will hereinafter appear.

A pair of spacer elements 17 and 18 are provided at the upper edge 16 ofthe support 10. A cutting guide element 20 is adapted to be mounted oneither side of the support 10. As illustrated, it is secured on theupper side under thumb nuts 21 and 22. The cutting guide element 29 isslotted near the ends thereof to permit alignment at the angle fixed bythe positions of the thumb nuts 21 and 22 and their associated boltsextending through the stops 11 and 12. The cutting guide element 20having slot 23 therein is adapted to be rotated, when desired, about thelocation of nut 21 to be secured under thumb nut 24 at right anglesrelative to stops 11, 12.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the support structure 10 has a slot 25extending from the edge 13 toward the sloping edge 14 at a distance xwhich preferably is greater than the exposure of a given course ofshingles. A hole or holes 26 are also provided in alignment with theslot 25. Slot 25 and holes 25 are centered along a line which isparallel to the edge of the linear stops 11 and 12.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, a shingle grading element 30 is mounted onthe upper face of the support structure 10 as by a pair of screws 31 and32. Screw 31 fits in the slot 25 and screw 32 passes through a hole 26.Suitable thumb nuts on the lower side of the support 10 are provided foranchoring the element 31} in its desired position.

The grading element 30 is shown in greater detail in FIGURE 4 andcomprises a hairpin-like rod structure of substantial length having fourstops 41, 42, 43 and 44 spaced therealong. In one embodiment of the formillustrated, the element was made of 4. iron rod with the spacingbetween the two arms 3th: and 3% A". The stops 41-44 were short lengthsof like rod Welded into the space between the legs 30a and 3% atuniformly spaced points. The spacing y between adjacent elements 41-44was made equal to the stepout of the roof valley across the exposedportion of a given course of shingles and was thus suitable for use ingrading shingles to be cut for bordering the valley or hip disposed atroof angle with respect to the plane.

The support 10 is provided with a plurality of holes 22b-22c in whichthe bolt 22a may be positioned in order to provide shingles of theproper slope for a roof of any given pitch. The lower the pitch on agiven roof, the smaller will be the angle included between the cuttingguide element 20 and the linear stop 11, the lower limit being 45 Thespacing between the stops 41-44 will be fixed for a given pitch andshingle exposure with one of said grading elements being required foreach combination of pitch and exposure. The stops 41-44 and 51-55 aregraduated in height, increasing in increments of a shingle thickness inthe direction away from the cutter guide element 20. The curved end 300of element 30 should also be considered as a stop. If desired, a slotcould be provided instead of holes 22b 22c, thus 3 allowing continuousangle adjustment for the cutting guide element 29.

When the element 3% of FIGURE 4 is fastened onto the support It) ofFIGURE 1, five shingles may be placed on the support with the butts ofthe shingles, i.e. the edges which are to lie horizontally on the roof,maintained in alignment against the linear stop 11. The shingles as theywould be viewed in FIGURE 1 should be positioned with the left edge ofeach shingle adjacent one of the stops 44, 43, 42, 41 and the edge ofthe fifth shingle against the end 36:: of the element 36. With theshingles thus arranged on the support It), they may be cutsimultaneously or successively by drawing a knife or other suitablecutter along the edge of the cutting guide bar 29. The resultantshingles thus cut will be suitably and properly graded for bordering avalley on each of five successive courses of shingles. The joints ineach of the shingle courses are aligned so that there will be maintaineda desirable appearance in the roof pattern.

In FIGURE there is illustrated a second grading member 50 which has fivestops 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 of the same nature or construction as thestops of FIG- URE 4. The stop of FIGURE 5 accommodates shingles ofgreater length and for greater exposure than those used with the stop ofFIGURE 4. Suitable stops may be provide for accommodating any particularshingle pattern or dimension. In the forms illustrated, the element 39of FIGURE 4 was designed for use with standard 20- inch compositionshingles and provided for cutting a set of five shingles at one time.The unit 50, FIGURE 5, was provided for use with the 36-inch shingles.It made possible grading a set of six shingles at one time wtih oneshingle adjacent each of the stops 51-55 and a sixth shingle adjacentthe end 500.

The unit of FIGURE 5 is provided with an insert 58 welded into the spacebetween the two arms of the unit 50 and extending downwardly in thedirection opposite the elements 5l55. As illustrated in FIGURE 6, theleg 58 tends to maintain the rigidity desired in the grading element 50as it extends beyond the edge of the support 10.

In use, and as illustrated in FIGURE 8, it the distance 2 from the edge76 of the caves to the intersection of the valley line 7% with the caveis equal to a multiple of the shingle width, then the valley shingleswill be cut to produce the shingles as illustrated in FIGURE 8 (only theexposed portions are shown) where the shingle 71 is the valley borderingshingle on the course 72; the shingle 73 is the valley bordering shingleon course 74; the shingle 75 is the valley bordering shingle on course76; the shingle 77 is the valley bordering shingle on course 78; and theshingle 79 is the valley bordering shingle on course 80. For the nextfive courses, the foregoing sequence is merely repeated so that for thisroof two identical sets of valley bordering shingles are required andthey may be formed by placing two separate stacks of shingles on thesupport 10, each in turn being placed with the outer or exposure sidedown and with the lower ends of the shingles abutting the linear stop11. The side of a first shingle will be butted against the end 300 ofthe grading member 30 as shown in FIGURE 9. The side of the secondshingle will be placed against the stop 41; the side of the thirdshingle will be placed against the stop 42; the side of the fourthshingle will be placed against the stop 43; and the side of the fifthshingle will be placed against the stop 44. The shingles may then be outalong the cutting guide element 263 to provide the five shingles 73, 75,77, 79 and 71 to border valley line 7011.

Thereafter, in order to provide the corresponding shingles for borderingthe valley line 70b, the element 30 and the cutting guide bar 20 aresecured on the opposite side of the support and two stacks of fiveshingles each are placed on the board as above described and are thencut to form the valley bordering shingles.

The shingles 71, 73, '75, 77 and 79 of FIGURE 8 are also shown in FIGURE7 (exposed portions only) and represent the series 90, i.e. shinglesthat would be employed when the distance z, FIGURE 8, is equal to amultiple of the shingle lengths. When the distance z is not a multipleof the shingle length, then a different set of shingles such as the set91, 92, or 93 might be required. The exposed lower margin of eachshingle in the set 91 is one inch greater in length than thecorresponding shingle in set and will be used when the length z is oneinch greater than an integral multiple of the shingle lengths. In thiscase, the stop 3t) is merely moved one inch back away from the cuttingguide bar to a new setting. If the distance 1 differs by two inches orthree inches or any fractional portion, then sets such as 92 or "3 orintermediate sets may be cut by merely setting the grading stop element36 accordingly. It is to be noted that the grading stop element 30 needbe set only once for cutting shingles for a given border (i.e. line 70a)of a valley. The grading stop element is then placed on the other sideof the support structure 10 and adjusted to the same longitudinalposition for cutting the shingles for the other border (i.e. line 79b)of the valley. The cutting guide element 20 is, of course, also moved tothe other side of the support It) and reset at the same angle.

For cutting shingles for valleys, cuts such as along line 85, FIGURE 10,are made with the shingles upside down on the support 10, FIGURE 1, andwith the edges of the shingles against the grading stops as shown inFIGURE 9. When cutting shingles for bordering a hip, the shingle ispositioned top down with the locking flap 38 resting against the linearstop 11.

It is to be understood that three different types of cuts may benecessary. Referring to FIGURE 10, the first is a cut which slopes alonga line 35 equal to the slope of the juncture (valley border or hipline). The second is along the shingle vertical center line 87 to formhalf shingles such as employed at the eaves on courses 74 and 78. Athird is to remove the locking tab 88 by cutting along line 89. Thesystem of the present invention is suited for making all three cutsaccurately so that a pleasing finish is maintained with alignment alongthe valley borders, lines 70a and 70b, FIGURE 8, or along a hip line.

Having described the invention in connection with one embodimentthereof, it is to be understood that further modifications may nowsuggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and it is intended tocover such modifications as fa within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be usedfor bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which devicecomprises a planar support, a linear stop mounted on said support foralignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cutting guide elementextending across said support at the angle of said juncture from a pointof intersection with said linear stop, a grading stop member mounted onsaid support parallel to but spaced from said linear stop and having aplurality of shingle stop elements uniformly spaced along said member atdistances equal to the stepout of a given juncture across the portion ofsaid shingle to be exposed; whereby shingles equal to the number of saidstep elements may be placed on said support end aligned with said linearstop, with one shingle abutting each of said stop elements, and cutalong said cutting guide element to provide the juncture shingles foradjacent courses properly graded in length.

2. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be usedfor bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which devicecomprises a planar support, a linear stop mounted on said support foralignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cutting guide elementextending across said support at the angle of said juncture from a pointof intersection with said linear stop, a grad ing stop member adjustablymounted on said support spaced from said linear stop and movableparallel to said linear stop, said grading stop member having aplurality of shingle margin arresting elements uniformly spacedtherealong at distances equal to the stepout of said juncture across theshingle exposure on each course of shingles; whereby shingles equal tothe number of said stop elements may be placed on said support alignedwith said linear stop, with one shingle abutting each of said marginarresting elements, and out along said cutting guide element to providethe juncture shingles for adjacent courses properly graded in length.

3. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be usedfor bordering the juncture between two roofing planes which devicecomprises a planar support, linear stops mounted on opposite faces ofsaid support for alignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cuttingguide element adapted to be secured to either side of said support so asto extend across said support at the angle of said juncture from a pointof intersection with said linear stops, a grading unit adapted to bemounted on either face of said support spaced from said linear stops andhaving a plurality of shingle margin arresting elements spaced uniformlytherealong at distances equal to the stepout of said juncture across theshingle exposure on each course of shingles; whereby shingles equal tothe number of said arresting elements may be placed on one face of saidsupport and aligned with said respective linear stop, with one shingleabutting each of said margin arresting elements and cut along saidcutting guide element, and

then like numbers of shingles similarly placed on the other face of saidsupport aligned with said respective linear stop, with one shingleabutting each of said margin arresting elements, and cut along saidcutting guide element to provide the opposed juncture shingles foradjacent courses properly graded in length.

4. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be usedfor bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which devicecomprises a generally planar support member, a linear stop fixed to saidsupport member, a cutter guide element fixed to said support at an anglerelative to said linear stop equal to the supplement of the angle whichsaid juncture makes with the roof lower margin, and a series of stopsfixed relative to said support and spaced each from the other a distanceequal to the stepout of the said juncture across the shingle exposure onadjacent shingle courses.

5. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be usedfor bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which devicecomprises a support structure, a linear stop fixed to said supportstructure, a cutter guide element adjustably fixed to said supportstructure at an acute angle relative to said linear stop and equal tothe supplement of the roof juncture to roof lower margin angle, a seriesof stops fixed relative to one another and spaced one from another inthe direction longitudinally of said linear stop a distance equal to thestepout of said juncture across the shingle exposure on adjacent shinglecourses, said stops being adjustable relative to said support structurein the direction longitudinally of said linear stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS308,213 Stilly et al Nov. 18, 1884 1,137,453 Billings Apr. 27, 19151,874,068 Walker Aug. 30, 1932 1,944,918 Bielaski Jan. 30, 19341,981,231 Grant Nov. 20, 1934 2,941,554 Long June 21, 1960

4. A GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE FOR CUTTING SHINGLES TO BE USEDFOR BORDERING THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN TWO ROOFING PLANES, WHICH DEVICECOMPRISES A GENERALLY PLANAR SUPPORT MEMBER, A LINEAR STOP FIXED TO SAIDSUPPORT MEMBER, A CUTTER GUIDE ELEMENT FIXED TO SAID SUPPORT AT AN ANGLERELATIVE TO SAID LINER STOP EQUAL TO THE SUPPLEMENT OF THE ANGLE WHICHSAID JUNCTURE MAKES WITH THE ROOF LOWER MARGIN, AND A SERIES OF STOPSFIXED RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT AND SPACED EACH FROM THE OTHER A DISTANCEEQUAL TO THE STEPOUT OF THE SAID JUNCTURE ACROSS THE SHINGLE EXPOSURE ONADJACENT SHINGLE COURSES.